User:Arthropleura

It wasn't a furry that got me flack. In any event... I don't believe I can come back. There are too many bad memories. I don't even understand how I thought back then when I was on here; it was probably because I was going through major social troubles in real life, so I kind of stuck to the first community I found, even if half the time it was verbally stomping on me. And yeah, I was an idiot half the time. But my position on the matter is that very few people here are exemplars of politeness, and I've tried to change (and may have succeeded) in being much more polite and calm and rational. Still a bit arrogant, though. But I've changed. I don't know how much the site has.

There are some of you I remember and rather like; SuperJosh, The Emperor, Javascap, Weaseloid... but the fact is that I can't bring myself to trust the entire site. Part of this is probably due to spending I don't know how long thinking very badly of the community here at large. But part of it is a completely rational reaction to what I experienced.

So goodbye, RationalWiki. I don't understand you. I don't understand myself here when I look back. I wish I could trust you, because I believe that you serve a function, and I would be pleased to advance some of your causes. But like I've said--I've changed. I've changed in that I've grown more tolerant of people with beliefs that are different than mine, so that I don't automatically make fun of or scorn anyone's beliefs if I can't stick something disproving it in their face and explain it in terms a five year old should be able to understand. And I remember RationalWiki as having a noticeable antitheistic streak--understandable and perhaps exaggerated by later perception, but I don't buy into antitheism, which I predict would put me on a definite angle of friction with many.

And so I say it again: Goodbye, RationalWiki. I do not know whether to hate you, love you, admire you, or pity you. I suspect it is a mix of all four.

There are two things I would appreciate done, RationalWiki. Firstly, I want this to be copied into my userpage. Second, I want you to remember me, specifically remembering me to ensure that another CUR does not happen. Because sooner or later, I predict, there will be another teenager like I was, and he or she will set himself apart. And when that happens, when he or she is making an incredible nuisance of him or herself and is of questionable mental stability, I want you to point him or her to what happened here. And I want you to give him or her my email address, so that I can attempt to prevent another one of me.

I may have been arrogant when writing this essay. I may have thought of myself as more significant than I am. But I did not go through drafts and I only changed things to correct typos. I say it as I thought it. If anybody has any questions or wants to talk to me (please, I really don't want to get into any long-drawn out arguments that go over the same points over and over, so don't contact me if you are planning on doing that), then you know where to find me.